The present invention relates generally to performance data processing apparatus and programs for generating performance data corresponding to predetermined types of tone generators. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved performance data processing apparatus and program which are arranged to automatically convert performance data corresponding to one tone generator to thereby automatically generate performance data corresponding to another tone generator where tone colors (i.e., rendition styles) are allocated in a different manner from the one tone generator, i.e. which differs from the one tone generator in the way of allocating tone colors (i.e., rendition styles).
Generally, tone generators are used to automatically perform tones of desired tone colors on the basis of performance data. Recently, there have appeared tone generators that differ in the way of allocating tone colors (rendition styles). For example, some of the recent tone generators are arranged to reproduce given rendition styles, representative of various musical expressions and renditions characteristic of a musical instrument used, by addition of one or more kinds of control data to performance data including note-on data and note-off data (for convenience, such tone generators will hereinafter be referred to as “ordinary-type tone generators”), and others of the recent tone generators are arranged to reproduce musical expressions, corresponding to specific rendition styles, on the basis of only note-on instructions (for convenience, such tone generators will hereinafter be referred to as “rendition-style-compliant tone generators”). As one type of the rendition-style-compliant tone generators, there have been known special-type tone generators which are equipped with special-type tone colors, such as rendition-style-dependent tone colors, having different characteristics from ordinary-type tone colors; note that the rendition-style-dependent tone colors are tone colors corresponding to different rendition styles of a musical instrument, such as a steel guitar or electric bass guitar. The special-type tone generator disclosed in U.S. Application Publication No. U.S.2003/0172799A1 corresponding to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2003-263159 has, in a map of a tone color, different special-type tone colors (rendition styles) allocated in a velocity direction and note number direction. Unlike the ordinary-type tone generators, the disclosed special-type tone color can make tone color changes (rendition style changes) using velocities and note numbers included in note-on data and note-off data of performance data. Thus, using such a rendition-style-compliant tone generator, it is possible to reproduce realistic musical expressions, based on given rendition styles, with high quality and execute an automatic performance with a variety of tone colors through very simple control.
As noted above, the ordinary-type tone generators and the rendition-style-compliant tone generators (e.g., the above-discussed special-type tone color) differ from each other in the way of allocating tone colors, and thus the way of using velocities and note numbers (namely, how to designate tone colors) significantly differs between the performance data usable by the ordinary-type tone generators and the performance data usable the rendition-style-compliant tone generators. Therefore, there is a need to generate performance data for each of the types of tone generators in accordance with the particular way of using velocities and note numbers. Thus, in a case where an ordinary-type tone generator has been replaced with (i.e., changed over to) a rendition-style-compliant tone generator or vice versa, and if the performance data that were used by the previous (i.e., replaced) tone generator before the tone generator changeover are used as-is in the new (i.e., replacing) tone generator, there would occur significant musical inconveniences; therefore, the performance data for the previous tone generator can not be used in the new tone generator. In other words, there is no compatibility between the performance data for the ordinary-type tone generators and the performance data for the rendition-style-compliant tone generators. Generally, it is quite time-consuming and cumbersome for a user to newly create performance data, from the beginning of the performance, for each tone generator to be used, each time a changeover is made from an ordinary-type tone generator to a rendition-style-compliant tone generator or vice versa. Further, if the user does not have sufficient musical knowledge and knowledge about differences in characteristic between individual musical instruments, it would be very difficult to create performance data for executing a tone performance with desired rendition styles reflected therein.